This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Pipes and tubes are used for transporting fluids such as gases and liquids in various industrial applications. Often, it is desirable to maintain the temperature of such fluids by insulating an exterior surface of the pipe. For many years, extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam has been used to insulate industrial piping. Because of its physical properties, XPS foam is often used to insulate chilled water systems. In these applications, typically, half shells of XPS foam are machined out of XPS foam billets. These half shells can then be applied to the exterior surface of the piping. This approach tends to create a significant amount of wasted material. Moreover, the production of large billets is limited by current manufacturing capabilities. Thus, the availability of half shells for pipes and vessels having larger diameters is also limited. In these larger diameter applications, smaller circular segments of XPS foam are fabricated from large billets or boards. This practice, too, results in a significant amount of scrap, and is also very costly in terms of the fabrication labor costs and installation costs.
Recent advancements have seen the development of cylindrical XPS foam. The core of the cylinder can be removed creating half shells with much less waste than the billet process described above. However, as with the billet process, the production of large diameter cylinders is limited by current manufacturing capabilities. Thus, the availability of large diameter cylinders for pipes and vessels having larger diameters is, again, limited.
It is also known in the art to fabricate rigid or semi-rigid fibrous glass or mineral wool insulation with slits or grooves that close when the insulation is wrapped around the outside of a pipe or the inside of a duct. However, the insulating and moisture resisting properties of these fibrous glass and mineral wool products is poor. In this regard, at least one external surface of fibrous glass or mineral wool insulation is often faced with a second material to improve the mechanical strength, rigidity, and/or moisture resisting properties of the insulation.
While known foam insulating products and methods have generally proven to be acceptable for their intended purposes, a continued need in the relevant art remains.